San Franciscan Visits New York, Isn't Impressed

Although last year's Le Fooding proved that in a San Francisco-New York smackdown, almost everyone loses, one man has done his bit to incite a new skirmish in the nonexistent battle.

Writing for Inside Scoop SF, Michael Bauer (who is also the San Francisco Chronicle's restaurant critic), recounts his recent visit to our fair city, where he attempted to eat at the James Beard semifinalists Torrisi, Recette, and ABC Kitchen.

Bauer wasn't able to get into Torrisi, but he did gain access to both Recette and ABC Kitchen, and damned both with praise so faint it seemed to come straight from the soul of an undermining Jewish grandmother. Though its charcuterie was "serviceable" and his meal "pretty good," Bauer concluded that "there are probably 10 new restaurants in San Francisco that I could argue are better" than Recette. And at ABC he found a lot of toast and admired the concept, but "left wondering whether it was truly the best new restaurant in America." Two of San Francisco's nominees, on the other hand, are "more refined and traditional in decor." And they'll probably both grow up to marry doctors, too.